Innersole-filler.



l and ANDREW THOMA, OF

PATENT ossron.

CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOB. TO NORTH AMERICAN CHEMICAL COMPANY,OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

INN nsoLE-FrLLna.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 30, 1907.

Application filed May 15, 1905, Serial No. 260.557. Renewed December26,1906. Serial No- 349,443.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANDREW THOMA, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cambridge, in the county of Suffolk and State ofMassachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Innersole-Fillers, ofwhich the following description, in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, 'is a specification, like letters on the drawings representinglike parts.

In the manufacture of certain kinds of shoes, a cemcntitious filler isemployed, as, for example, in Goodyear welt shoes, the cavity in theunder side of the weather it seems exceedingly difficult to get it todry or set, so that as a result a largeamount of floor space a greatmany racks are required for holding the shoes while waiting for thefiller to set, the work of the shop is materially delayed, and a largeamount of stock is consequently-held up; also, this filler keeps ondrying until it becomes porous and brittle.

My invention aims to. obviate the foregoing objections, and accordinglyjny invention includes a filler and amethod of applying it whichexpedite shoe manufacture, save the enormous amount of waste and losswhich now result from the use of the rubber cement above referred to,produce a firm, tenacious filler layer which never alters in character,and is cheap and expeditiousand does not deteriorate by standing. In theprocess of shoe manufacture it usually results that the leather to whichthe filler is to be applied'is wet or damp, as it has previously beensoaked .to render it pliable for turning up the usual peripheral lipthereof, and this condition, and the more or less oily and peculiarnature of leather, have rendered the problem exceedingly difficult, sothat, notwithstanding the fact that rubber cement dries slowly, isliable to stick to everything in its vicinity, remains sticky even afterit has set, is very expensive, and rapidly evaporates, been us ed. Ihave discovered, however, that by rendering properly plastic theresinous residuum of petroleum', having the characteristics 0 waxtailings, and applying the same hot to ground cork, ground leatherscrapor the like filler substance, as'heretofore used for fillers, a filleris obtained which will adhere with extreme firmness and tenacity even towet yet said rubber cement filler has always leather. It will setquickly, and yet not become hard, and can be readily handled forpurposes of transportation and manufacture and the like. Also it ispermanently flexible or pliable, and is non-inflammable. This latterfeature is of great practical value, as it entirely does away with themenace of the present highly inflammablerubber cement filler.

- I take the resinous residuum of petroleum of the kind stated, andrender it properly plastic elastic by the addition of a very smallamount of paraflin oil, it being understood that more oil is required inwinter than in summer to offset the different conditions of temperature.I have not'been able to establish any rule as to the amount of oilrequired, because the petroleum residuum varies greatly, it beingimpossible to obtain it of uniform quality. However, all that isnecessary is to get said resinous residuum of petroleum into a plasticcondition by any means sufiiciently so that it is moldable or workablepenetrating and sticky, having about the consistency of a cheese andbeing capable of being cut with a knife like a cheese. It is sometimesobtainable of just the right consistency, not requiring any tempering,but usually it is either too thin (11. e., too fluid) or too thick (La,too stiff), so that-it has to be brought to the right condition ofplasticity or elasticity. Having mixed the ground cork or ground leatherscrap thoroughly with his compound (heated to a fluid condition), it maybe allowed to set en masse, in which condition it is only slightlypliable, although not hard. In this condition, it can readily betransported in a crate or in a convenient wrapper, to the variousfactories.

Oneadvantage of the wax tailings or resinous residuum of petroleum isthat the filler produced therebyhas no disagreeable odor, afeature whichis essential in shoe manufacture. Also it has a low melting point (towhich is largely due its'capacity for quick-setting) and hence there isno danger-of charring the cork, and repeated melting does not alter itscharacter. As already noted, the resinous residuum of petroleum fromdifferentoil ,fields differs very decidedly, but it'may readily bebrought to substantial uniformity by supplying any deficiency, as, ties,resin may be added, thereby also stifiening the for instance, if lackingin resinous quali-l same, it being important not to materially modifythe distinguishing characteristics of the residuum, such as itsunchangeableness, quick setting, its capacity when united with the corkto make a permanently elastic filler, its waterproof and non-inflammablequalities, etc. In my Patent No. 808,224 I have set forth more at lengththe advantages thereof from the shoe manuiacturers standpoint. When itis desired to applyit to the innersole or other place, the desiredquantity for the job in hand is cut off from the larger bulk of thecompound and is heated. A hot tool, or a tool dipped in hot oil, is thenpreferably used for applying it to the leather, said tool molding orforcing and smoothing the heated plastic compound down evenly in thecavity of the innersole which is being filled." This is accom plishedinstantly, as the heated filler is perfectly plastic and fluid whilehot, and remains moldable when cold. The filler, are thus applied, setsquickly but does not harden, one minute being sufiicient in the ordinaryatmosphere. When once set, the filler does not alter with age, does notbecome brittle, but remains pliable and tenacious, and also adheresfirmly to 'the leather. It will be understood that the body of ground or00111 minuted material may consist of any usual or suitable fragmentarysubstance capable of having all its separate particles or piecesentirely and permanently coated simply by mixture with the resinouscompound. These particles or granules may be of varying sizes, so thatthe filler resembles a mass of chunks of coated cork, leather or thelike held together by the intervening film of plastic coating compound.This compound consists of the cork granules and a pliable bindernormally semi-solid, but renderedtemporarily semiliquid by heat. Eachgranule of the cork is coated as slightly as possible, but yet entirely,with an elastic, always sticky, non-oxidizing or unchangeable coating,

, which is capable of sticking to leather under all conditions,especially when hot, but is-capable of being compressed only when cold.It is applied hot to ,save work and power and to .promote its adhesionto the leather, especially when the latter is damp. It cannot becompressed when hot, but is then readily moldable and flows or shiftsfreely in the presence of the hot too], and as soon as it sets it can becompressed, so that it facilitates the laying of the sole in thebottoming proc* ess. When it cools it sets in the sense that thefreefiowing condition ceases because of the toughening of r the binder,whose adhesion to the cork becomes firm and strong the moment it becomescold, but the filler never gets hard and it always remains pliable andcomparatively soft and moldable. It is quick-setting in the sense ofstiffening at once upon cooling, quick-setting being due to thestiffening of the binder as it cools. It is non-oxidizing in the senseof being unchangeable in character, if. e., permanently workable, notbecoming brittle and losing its stickiness as doesthe naphtharubbercement filler already mentioned. M

It is obvious that there is no special danger from fire, and as thenormal condition of the filler is more or less hard or doughy, there isno tendency thereoi to run, leak, evaporate, smear the floor withdrippings, etc., which are among the disagreeable previous conditionswhich it is the purpose of my invention to obviate. One of the leadingfeatures 01' my invention resides in providing a filler which isnormally in its ultimate plastic, non-oxidizable condition and requiresto be heated or otherwise specially treated at the moment of andsemi-liquid and always smear-y and requiring a long period of time inwhich to attain its ultimate set condition.

Having secured this result, it will be seen at once-thatmost of theobjections to the present system have disappeared, as they are mostlydue to the semi-fluid slow acting condition of therubber cement whichsets only after the naphtha has evaporated.

. As already intimated, my compound and the mode of application may bevaried considerably without de- I parting from the spirit and scope ofmy invention, especially as defined in the following claims. Forinstance, I intend the claims to cover the filler whether mixed orprepared a long time prior to use or a short time prior to use or justas inserted or placed in the shoe. The present case, however, issubordinate to my copending application, now Patent No. 832,002 grantedSeptember 25, 1906, in which I have placed the broad claims which aregeneric to the several different varieties of shoe filler or fillermaterial and compounds, the present case being restricted to thatspecies of my filler which depends upon the resinous residuum ofpetroleum or sticky wax tailings.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new'a'nd desire to secureby Letters Patent, is'

1. A shoe-bottom filler consisting of a non-oxidizing, permanentlyplastic, quick-setting mass composed of finely commlnuted flllermaterial having each granule thinly coated with a. permanently. stickybinder containing resinous residuum of petroleum in a waxy condition.

2. A shoe-bottom filler consisting of a non-oxidizing, permanentlyplastic, quick-setting comparatively odorless mass composed of finelyconiminuted filler material having each granule thinly coated with apermanently sticky binder containing resinous residuum of petroleum in awaxy condition. i

3. A shoe-bottom filler, consisting of a filler body in a 'iragmcntarycondition thoroughlymixed with a binder containing wax talllngs ofpetroleum and a modifying agent so compounded as to render the mixedfiller mass permanently elastic, pliable and tenacious as described,"

yet sufllciently stifl to prevent shifting or bunching in the shoebottom and to be self-sustaining for transportation.

4. A shoe-bottom filler, consisting of a normally unchangeable,permanently elastic, quick setting mass of finely commlnuted corktenaciously held together by a binder whose controlling ingredient isresinous residuum of petroleum.

5. A shoe bottom filler, consisting of a low melting, nonoxidizing,permanently elastic and quick-setting mass contalning resinous residuumof petroleum. 1 i

.6. A shoe bottom filler, consisting of a normally unchangeable,permanently elastic, quick-setting, non-inflammable, water=repellentmass pliable and tenacious as described, yet still! in the shoe toprevent shifting or bunchlng in use, and containing sticky residuum ofpetroleum.

In testimony whereof, I have signedmy name to this specification, in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

ANDREW THOMA.

Witnesses Gno. H. MAXWELL, M. A. Jfor ns.

